First Ride

Well I didn't ride on Monday after all. After work I came home and the weather was beautiful! I decided to let the horses have an hour or so on the grass before it got dark. Once I turned them out I went for a run with the dogs. That was a lot of fun and the horses looked happy so I decided it wasn't a total loss if I didn't ride.

Yesterday I was determined to ride at least one horse! I did most of my work and then rushed home, put the horses out on the grass and then took care of a few things. Brought Henry out and tacked him up. Once on, we walked around the big paddock which has a nice hill. It is a gentle slope on one side and a medium slope on the other side. Perfect for his weakling stifles, flabby butt, and hay belly!

Normally Henry is not excited about going back to work. He tosses his head, ignores my leg, and does his best impression of a giraffe. And that's just at a walk! Yesterday was different. He walked around very relaxed and I was able to work on my balance and position. I am SO not ready for Florida! First off, getting into stand position to improve my heel was an exercise in itself. My leg kept slipping backwards and I kept hunching my shoulders. I had to hold onto mane to keep myself up there and still had to keep standing straight up and slwoly lower into stand over and over! Nonetheless, I worked at it, trying not to hunch, sink into the heel, chest UP!, head up, leg under me, shoulders BACK.....GEEZ! This used to be EASY!!! After wrestling with my body for what seemed like an eternity I finally felt like I was in a good stand so I stayed like that until my back started to ache. Mentally preparing to respond to take off I asked Henry to trot a few steps. Again I was pleasantly surprised by Henry's attitude. He didn't toss his head as I asked for it and then lurch into a sewing machine trot with the giraffe neck! Granted, we wouldn't win any pleasure classes with the departure but at least I didn't get whiplash and immediately have to sit and WHOA. My stand went to hell though and so I had to walk to recoup. Once I put myself back together we trotted some more. It was great! We were able to manage a somewhat steady pace for a minute or two at a time. I was able to stay in stand without toppling onto his neck or falling backwards. He managed not to trip or speed like a demon out of hell. All in all, it was a success! I'm sure it wasn't very pretty but right now I'm just looking for the basics! After trotting in the stnd position I actually managed posting trot without feeling like I was all over the place. I was hoping that the 15 minutes of straight stand position would help me keep my weight in my heel and I was right! I do have to be conscious not to grip with my knees, to keep my leg under me, and to get my shoulders back, but I am confident it will all come back with a few weeks of regular riding.

I am so pleased with Henry! He could not have been better considering how he behaved in the past after not being ridden regularly. The only complaint I have was that he did not want to yield to my leg, which is usual for him. I expected that and he wasn't as bad as he has been in the past. I am really looking forward to riding in the next couple of days. Of course the weather is not cooperating! It went from 90 to 60 and now it's COLD! If the ground isn't too soggy I plan to ride on Friday when it warms up a bit. Until then.